Albus Potter and the Sacred Twenty-Eight
by alonelybird1
Summary: Albus Potter was just a normal kid trying to make it onto the team and get good grades. Then Scorpius Malfoy transfers into Hogwarts and a string of events turn Albus's life upside down. Murder, kidnapping, politics, intrigue, and magic unfold as the two boys fall in love... Meanwhile a new Dark power slowly rises. SLASH.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Albus Potter and the Sacred Twenty-Eight

Synopsis: Albus Potter was just a normal kid trying to make it onto the team and get good grades. Then Scorpius Malfoy transfers into Hogwarts and a string of events turn Albus's life upside down. Murder, kidnapping, politics, intrigue, and magic unfold as the two boys fall in love... Meanwhile a new Dark power slowly rises. SLASH.

* * *

CHAPTER ONE

* * *

Albus leaned his head against the pane of the window and sighed lightly as the countryside sped on by. He barely moved when his younger sister Lily sat next to him.

"Cheer up, Al. It's going to be okay."

"What if I don't make it?"

Lily rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly. "You're the son of two Quidditch heroes— the youngest Seeker in two centuries and a former Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies. James made it through the trials and now he's the Captain. Every Potter has made it onto the Quidditch House team for the past six centuries. So don't worry about it."

Albus knew that that was supposed to be encouraging, but Lily's words only made the feeling in the pit of his stomach worse.

"But what I don't?"

His sister took out one of her textbooks with a clear look of indifference. "Then you don't! What, do you think mom and dad are going to hate you? I'm not going to join the team and somehow they still love me."

"No…"

"That's right. They are going to love you to the moon and back, just like they do now."

Albus shook his head. "I don't know. But then I won't have done anything in school. I'm not top of the class like you are or mom was—"

"—That's because you don't study as much, Al—"

The teenager ignored her and kept talking, "—I won't have made Prefect like mom and James did, I won't have made Quidditch like everybody in the past six centuries did…"

"You're top of your class in Defense Against the Dark Arts, just like dad was! That's something."

"Yeah but I doubt he notices."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Dad knows everything. He's Head Auror, remember?"

"And he was the youngest Seeker in a century! I couldn't even make it onto the team in my second year."

"That's because you were going up against Fred. You know, Fred Weasley, four years older, Quidditch god? The one who was picked by the Chuffed Cannons—"

"—Chudley Cannons—"

"—Whatever kind of cannons, Albus!" Lily huffed and pulled her book back up to her nose.

Albus shrugged to himself and stared back out the window. He knew on an intellectual level that Lily was right. When he hadn't made the team in his second year, his parents had pulled him aside and told him that they loved him; they told him that Fred was older and more experienced. When he hadn't made the top ten percent of his class, his parents had pulled him aside and told him that they loved him; his dad told him about all the horrible grades he made while a student. When he hadn't made prefect, they pulled him aside and told him that they loved him; his mom told him that she thought the Prefect duties were an annoyance and a distraction from school.

Yet with each failure, Albus could feel an increasing pressure to excel at something. So far, all he had were consolation speeches from his parents promising him that they still loved him. He didn't have anything to make them proud. As silly as it sounded even in his own head, Albus felt like joining the Quidditch team was his last chance to prove himself as a Potter to his family.

Albus glanced over to Lily, who had already immersed so deep in her textbooks that an explosion could've gone off and she wouldn't have noticed. He sighed more quietly and stared out at the passing countryside.

A few minutes later, the door to the train car opened and his other cousin, Rose Weasley, bounced in excitedly. She sat across from them and clapped her hands. "Did you hear the news?"

Lily closed her book with a huff. "What news?"

"There's a Malfoy on the train."

"A who?" Albus blurted out, unknowingly.

Both of the girls turned to him as Rose splayed her hands. "Malfoy. You know, Lord Malfoy, former Death Eater? Uncle Harry's worst enemy aside from… You-Know-Who?"

Albus shrugged and stared out of the window disinterestedly. Who cared if another Slytherin was coming to the school?

"Yeah apparently he was kicked out of Durmstrang. He's transferring here."

That little fact peaked the boy's interest. "Kicked out? For what?"

Rose giggled and whispered conspiratorially. "Who knows. It's all quite hushed up. Daddy's money and all."

"What year is he going to be?"

"Our year! Fifth! That's why I wanted to tell you."

Albus gave a half shrug. "It'll just be another Slytherin at the school. I doubt I'll have any interaction with him."

Rose frowned slightly. "Doubtful. Malfoy is probably going to try and start something with us. Malfoys and Weasleys have been enemies for centuries."

"Sounds like he's more likely to go after you then."

His cousin raised her nose haughtily. "You're half Weasley too, you know. And you're Harry Potter's son!"

Albus sank into his seat glumly, hating that fact every time it was mentioned. He loved his father, but he hated the fame and expectations of glory associated with that. "Well, if he comes my way I'll just punch him in the nose then, yeah?"

Lily smiled lightly into her reopened textbook. Rose, seeing that her gossip hadn't caused the effect she wanted, stood up haughtily and left the compartment.

The two siblings exchanged a knowing look about their cousin and went back to reading their textbooks.

* * *

When the train arrived at Hogwarts station, Albus started to feel the excitement building throughout the students. He stared up at the castle with a grin on his face. Even despite all the expectations on his shoulders, coming to Hogwarts always felt like coming to his second home.

He got into a horseless carriage and rode with Lily as she excitedly talked about the magic they were going to learn. Albus humored her and smiled along. When they got to the castle and into the Great Hall, Albus sat down alongside the sometimes daunting number of Weasley cousins and his extended family, made up of all the sons and daughters of his parents' friends.

When it came time for the first years to be Sorted, Albus watched half-interestedly. Uncle Neville Longbottom, the Deputy Headmaster, called all of the trembling little ones up to be absorbed one by one by the Sorting Hat and pronounced into one of the Four Houses.

Then, after they were all Sorted, Professor Longbottom cleared his throat and called out, "Malfoy, Scorpius."

A silence fell over the Great Hall as everyone stared at the platinum blonde teenager who had appeared in the doorway. People began whispering and giggling to each other as Malfoy walked towards the Hat passively. He appeared absolutely calm and collected, as if no one was looking at him. Uncle Neville gestured to the stool and the school watched the boy sit on the stool with disinterest.

Albus's brother James leaned into him, saying, "Why bother with the Hat? We all know that the little git is going to be in—"

"—GRYFFINDOR!"

* * *

Author's Note: Please review! I've never published a story before and I'd like to know what you think. Thank you for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

* * *

The whole Great Hall sat in shock. Albus widened his eyes, sensing that something momentous has just happened. He watched as the young Malfoy stood up smoothly and walked towards the Gryffindor table, his face calm and poised.

Albus heard the whispers growing throughout the Hall as the blonde boy forced his way through part of the Gryffindor table. Malfoy took a seat a few students down from Albus, seemingly oblivious to everyone gossiping about him simultaneously.

The Headmistress stood up and the Hall fell slowly silent again. Professor McGonagall shifted her eyes towards the Gryffindor table, trying to hide her shock before she recovered and gave the normal warnings about the Forbidden Forrest and the general rules of the school.

Then, when the food arrived, Albus tried to block out all thoughts of Malfoy and started helping himself to the food. He half-listened to his cousins, Dominique and Louis Weasley, as they exaggerated their summer adventures with their father in Egypt, who was a famous curse-breaker. He listened in and laughed with the rest of the family, before glancing over and seeing Malfoy sitting quietly by himself, his face still impassive and calm.

Albus had to pull his eyes away from the blonde, struggling to listen to Dominique, who was fielding questions about the rumors about her older sister, Victoire, and Albus's god-brother, Teddy Lupin, getting into a relationship.

When dinner ended, Albus walked towards the Gryffindor Tower with his hands in his pockets, following the large crowd of Weasleys and their friends. He noticed Malfoy walking behind them and he hesitated, wondering if he should introduce himself. Supposedly their families hated each other, but so far the blonde boy had yet to say a word or even show a negative emotion.

Even despite Malfoy's passive acceptance at being put in Gryffindor and his lack of insults or barbs, Albus was not the kind of man to usually reach out and make friends. All of his other friends had been made for him, before he was even born. Yet there was something about the quiet blonde that made him want to introduce himself.

Albus cleared his throat nervously and walked down the steps towards the approaching blonde. He steeled himself and remembered that Malfoy was going to be a dorm-mate this year regardless.

"Malfoy?" He spoke the name out for the first time.

Malfoy stopped and looked up, arching an eyebrow in surprise. "You're Albus Severus Potter, I assume?"

Albus was nervous and tried to keep his voice even, "Yes I am. How did you know that?"

The blonde snorted lightly. "I read the newspapers. Your family is in them sometimes."

"Oh right. Duh. Um, well I'm Albus." He stuck out his hand in greetings.

He smirked dryly. "I think we've established that." Malfoy looked at the hand then glanced over Albus's shoulder, where some of the Weasleys had congregated. He looked at the teenager pointedly. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Albus felt his family's growing eyes on the back of his head. But he was too far into it now. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Our relatives don't exactly get along."

"Well…" Albus blanked, trying to calm his nerves. "I mean we are going to be… dorm-mates. I figured we should at least introduce ourselves."

Malfoy nodded appreciatively and reached out and shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Potter."

"Likewise." Albus grinned, relief rushing through him as they began walking up the Tower. His family members kept giving Malfoy dirty looks as they whispered about the pair, but made room for the two of them to pass by first, before falling in behind them.

Malfoy seemed to ignore them, his hands held behind his back like he didn't have a care in the world. Albus stole a glance at the boy and wished that he had that kind of poise and composure. He wiped his sweaty hands on his uniform, glanced back at his sister and cousins, and kept climbing.

They reached the Portrait of the Fat Lady and called out the password. Albus pointed to the boy's fifth year dormitories for Malfoy's benefit, who nodded imperceptibly and climbed with the boy, leaving all the Weasleys and their friends behind.

There were six beds in the room, with Malfoy's bed right in-between Albus's and his cousin Louis's. Louis and the other three dorm-mates came in with grim faces. Louis and their friend Frank Longbottom marched right past Malfoy without a word. The other two, Jeffrey and David, both Muggleborns, gave a glance to the blonde teenager in fear and moved past him quietly.

Albus gave a sympathetic look to the other boy, only to see the Malfoy heir unpack nonchalantly, as if the tension in the room was the furthest thing from his mind. Albus stared at the boy before blinking and getting ready himself.

He stared at the closed curtains where he knew that the blonde was sleeping. He couldn't sleep because questions kept swirling around in his head.

Why did the Malfoy get sorted into Gryffindor? His sister had said that there hadn't been a single Malfoy ever to be Sorted into any House other than Slytherin for the past five hundred years. Better yet, why did he get kicked out of Durmstrang? Now he wished he had paid attention to Rose's gossiping. Why did the Weasleys have such a hatred for the boy? He hadn't done anything wrong or displayed any hatred. All the animosity was one-sided.

Yet there was one question that pervaded his mind most of all, and it was the one he least wanted or was able to answer. Why did he care so much about this boy he had never heard of before?

It was a long time before he went to sleep that night.

* * *

The next morning he dressed in his uniform, glancing over to a bemused Malfoy tying the Gryffindor colors for the first time. Albus felt like making some kind of funny comment about it but he didn't know if it would insult the other boy, so he didn't say anything.

He waited in the Common Room for his family members to show up so that they could travel as their pack, but Malfoy came down first. He arched his eyebrow and spoke for the first time that day. "Can you direct me to the Great Hall? The castle is rather large."

Albus jumped at the opportunity, surprising himself. "How about I just walk down with you?"

Malfoy shrugged gracefully. "It's your call. You don't have to."

The brunette blurted out, "But I want to," before his brain caught up to what he was said. He felt weirdly nervous and embarrassed at his eagerness to show the Malfoy around the school.

His face flushed as the blonde teenager nodded and said, "Okay then."

Albus nervously glanced at the staircases to the rooms, noting that his family wasn't there. He breathed a sigh of relief and led the boy through the portrait. The two walked in compassionate silence, even though Albus's heart was pounding through his chest. He felt rebellious just being in Malfoy's presence, not just because the other boy was apparently a rule-breaker himself, but also because he was making friends with an apparent enemy of his family.

He glanced over to Malfoy. The boy didn't seem like an enemy. He just seemed like a rich and quiet boy. His uniform was obviously tailored and he carried himself with a kind of grace and poise that Albus knew he'd never be able to achieve. In all, there was a kind of masculine beauty to the blonde, who was just as tall as Albus with a Seeker's muscular but compact body, with impossibly light blonde hair and gray eyes. Albus shivered at his own thoughts and darted his eyes at the ground quickly, hoping that the other boy hadn't noticed him staring.

They reached the Great Hall after a short walk and the boys took seats next to each other. They began eating breakfast, even though they were relatively early compared to most of the school. The silence was broken by Albus's family a few minutes later, which came into the Great Hall and exponentiated the amount of noise in the room, as was usual. Yet their laughter died quickly when they noticed Albus sitting next to Scorpius, who sat seemingly unaware of their animosity, reading a folded copy of the Daily Prophet with interest.

The clan sat around the table, with Louis taking the seat on the other side of Malfoy with a furtive glance. They stared at Malfoy and Albus as the brunette trained his eyes on the food in the center of the table, suddenly not hungry. His face and neck felt hot and flushed, as if he had been caught doing something wrong.

Rose Weasley was the first one to break the silence, asking Lily to pass some condiment. Lily complied and the conversations resumed, albeit muted and cautious.

The schedules were passed out and Albus glanced at Malfoy's to notice that they had essentially the same schedules. The first class was double-potions with Slytherin, Albus noted dryly. As if he had heard Albus's thoughts, Malfoy stood up, collecting his things.

Albus ate a piece of bacon quickly and blurted out, "Potions are in the dungeons. I'll show you where."

His family collectively stared at him as if he had grown an extra head. Malfoy was staring at him as if he thought the same. He retorted quietly, "You don't have to. You didn't finish your breakfast."

"I wasn't hungry." Albus said a little too quickly, his cheeks heating up even more under the collective stares of Malfoy and his family.

Malfoy nodded and issued a quiet, "Thank you," as he walked towards the entrance of the Great Hall.

Albus followed him, passing one of his cousins, who hissed, "What are you doing?"

He shrugged in reply and kept walking on shaking feet.

By the time he was out of the Great Hall, Malfoy was standing there, his eyes searching the brunette's face. "Why are you helping me?"

Albus didn't have a good answer. He shrugged again. "Somebody has to show you around." It was an unconvincing lie, but Malfoy let it pass quietly.

They walked in silence towards the dungeons. Albus was fidgeting with his book bag and his hair as he summoned up the courage to ask Malfoy, "Why'd you get kicked out of Durmstrang?"

Malfoy stopped and gave his dorm mate a strange look. "I didn't get kicked out. Why did you ask that?"

Albus was completely lost for words. "I don't know. I just heard… My cousin… anyways it doesn't matter." He started to walk again, hoping that the awkwardness would pass.

The blonde walked, but quietly mentioned, "I didn't get kicked out. My father didn't… agree… with something I did and so he wanted me back in Britain."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

The other teenager shrugged his shoulders. "It's quite alright. I prefer Hogwarts to Durmstrang anyways. Father thought Durmstrang would be a positive influence on me. Obviously he was wrong."

Malfoy's answer only made Albus think of ten more questions. But he didn't have the courage to ask Malfoy what he meant, so he continued walking to Potions in silence. Albus instinctively took the seat at the cauldron next to Malfoy without a thought. A few minutes later, Louis Weasley entered and blinked uncomprehendingly at the two of them sitting there. Albus felt his face flush with blood, remembering that him and Louis had always been lab partners over the years. Albus glanced at his cousin nervously before Louis sat at a spot near the back of the classroom, slamming his bookbag in the empty seat, crossing his arms in obvious anger.

The class didn't improve from there. As the Potions classroom filled up, Albus noticed that just as many Slytherins were giving Malfoy dirty looks as the Gryffindors. Albus assumed that they had expected him to be in Slytherin and were mad that he wasn't. Some whispered "blood traitor" to the Malfoy heir but he ignored them in favor of going about the Potions experiment.

It turned out that Malfoy was a talented student and finished the assignment quickly, in almost absolute quiet except for the occasional polite requests and instructions. By the end of the lesson, they had both received top marks.

They walked out of the classroom again, ignoring Louis as he hissed to Albus, "What're you doing Albus? Stay the fuck away from him."

Albus shrugged him off, glancing over to Malfoy who seemed to be ignoring it altogether. They walked in silence, Albus taking them an alternate route to Herbology, a route that would avoid most of the other students.

Yet after a few minutes of silence, Albus couldn't help himself but ask, "Why did the Slytherin's call you blood traitor? Are mad you are in Gryffindor?"

Again Malfoy gave an incredulous look. "They couldn't be happier that I'm in Gryffindor."

"Wait, what?"

"The war? What my father did?"

Albus just blinked vacantly, not having the slightest idea what he was talking about.

"You don't follow history or politics much, do you?" Malfoy's voice was dry, as if his answer was supposed to be the most obvious thing in the world.

Albus flushed, feeling inadequate and stupid. But he didn't press the blonde anymore, resolving to go to the Library at his first chance.

* * *

Author's Note: Thank you Codee21, guy77081, do not doubt the donuts, and Rachelc85 for reviewing! Please let me know what you think of the story. I know it's early yet but don't worry, plot and smut will come.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

* * *

Later that evening, Albus found himself in the Library, fumbling through books about the Second Wizarding War, but they were just as incomprehensible as his History of Magic courses. There were constant references to his father, but he skimmed over those awkwardly.

He glanced up and saw Lily with her arms pilled full of books. Lily placed them down on the bench next to him and sat down awkwardly.

They stared at each other awkwardly as his sister cleared her throat. "So… how was your day?"

"Shitty. Everybody kept treating Malfoy like a parasite."

Lily splayed her hands. "Then why sit next to him?"

Albus fumbled, his mind clouded. "Why not?"

"Because everybody hates his family. I just think it's a little weird that you've taken a Malfoy under your wing or whatever."

"What, so you're taking their side?"

"Our side, Al! You're on the Light side. Why become friends with one of the Darkest families in Britain? What's so special about Malfoy?"

"Nothing!" Albus yelled out a little too quickly, his face heated up beyond recognition.

Lily raised an eyebrow, disbelief and confusion on her face. But she leaned back a little bit and sighed. "Okay, okay. I just don't get it."

Albus felt himself boiling inside, a dozen questions brewing in his mind. Why was everybody so intent upon him not being friends with Malfoy? Why was Lily taking sides with his family? It wasn't like she ever cared about anything outside of academics, much less some silly family feud. Albus didn't say a word, his hands pressed against the textbook about the Second Wizarding War.

"What're you doing up here anyways? The only times I've seen you in the Library is at the end of the term when you and Louis panic about finals."

Albus shrugged and shoved the textbook towards Lily. "I don't know. I guess… I've just been trying to learn why the Malfoys and our family hate each other so much."

Lily closed the book and saw the title. "Why do you think it's related to the war?"

"That's what Malfoy said."

His sister rolled her eyes. "Well? What have you read so far?"

The teenage boy leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "I don't know. Just a lot of stuff about dad and Aunt Hermione… some stuff about Uncle Ron and Uncle Neville."

"Nothing about Lord Malfoy?"

"None." Albus glumly crossed his arms and looked at his sister, his mind running down a different path. "Why do you think mom and dad never talk about the war?"

"You know how dad is. He doesn't like bragging about stuff. And it's probably pretty painfully to talk about that. I mean, a lot of people died." Lily pulled out her wand and muttered a revealing spell. The pages flipped through and landed. Lily skimmed the page until she found one passage. "Here! Malfoy Manor."

Albus leaned forward and read about his dad and his aunt and uncle escaping from Malfoy Manor. But there was no mention of the Malfoy family. "So dad was captured and kept at Malfoy Manor until they escaped? Is that why they hate each other?"

Lily shrugged lightly. "I guess so?" She turned the book back to Albus, losing interesting quickly. "I don't know. Why does it matter?"

"I don't know. Like… don't you think we should learn about what happened so we get past it? I mean Malfoy isn't that bad."

Lily crossed her arms and shut down. "Why should we? If dad and Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron were captives of the Malfoys, shouldn't Malfoy be apologizing to us instead of the other way around?"

Albus felt an anger rushing through him. "Why should he have to apologize? He didn't capture our family. He wasn't in the war."

Lily pushed away from the table and grabbed her books and walked away without a word, her nose held high.

* * *

After a couple more hours of fruitless searching, Albus stumbled his way back to Gryffindor Tower, frustrated and angry. He went up to the Portrait of the Fat Lady and muttered the password. But the Fat Lady just blinked and said, "Oh I'm sorry dear. That's not the password."

"What do you mean that's not the password? It's only the first day of school!" Albus cursed and crossed his arms, noting for the first time that there was a certain blonde was sitting on the floor against the far wall with his book bag next to him.

Malfoy just nodded to his dorm mate. "I have a feeling they changed it to keep me out."

Albus felt his cheek redden with shame, but he went over to the blonde and slid against the wall until he was sitting next to him. "I'm sorry that everybody is acting so childish."

The blonde just shrugged. "I figured it was going to happen." He gave a graceful smirk and added, "They don't like me very much."

Albus fumbled a little and turned to Malfoy, leaning against the wall. "But why? Just because your family kept our family locked up for part of the war? That doesn't make any sense. Even if that's the reason why my family hates, you why would Slytherin hate you for that?"

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Someone has been doing their research. But no, that has nothing to do with it."

"Then what is it?"

The other teen sighed and shrugged. Albus watched the blonde contort, thinking of the right way to say it. "It's not easy to talk about. But… most of it is because… my family betrayed the Dark at the end of the war. Then he used his political connections to keep him, father, and grandmother out of Azkaban."

"Oh."

"Yeah. All the other Dark families lost everything at the end of the war. Most of the kids here have at least one relative that's in prison, or dead. They blame my father and grandfather for not going down with them."

Albus cleared his throat and looked away. "I… didn't even know." Then something clicked and he turned back, "But if they betrayed the Dark… then why does our family hate yours?"

"Look can you just drop it?" The teenage heir paused and grit his teeth before saying, "The Weasleys and Potters hate the Malfoys. It's always been that way, it's always going to be that way."

The brunette allowed a long pause to elapse before he gathered up the courage to say, "I don't hate you. And I'm both a Potter and a Weasley." Albus felt his face flush yet again, embarrassed at himself and his awkward comments.

Malfoy locked eyes with the other teen with a strange look in his eyes, as if he was trying to discern deep into Albus's soul.

Albus felt the other boy's eyes on him and he squirmed lightly, trying to evade the gaze. He glanced over to the Portrait of the Fat Lady, who was fanning herself disinterestedly. He cleared his throat awkwardly and asked, "Do you like Quidditch?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Yes I do. Why?"

"Do you… do you wanna go flying? Doesn't look like anybody is coming in or out anytime soon." Albus felt his heart racing but couldn't explain why.

"Sure."

Albus lifted himself up off the ground and smiled. "Okay. Come on, this way!" He could feel the other boy grin as the mood shifted.

They walked quickly down the castle to the Quidditch grounds, both grinning lightly. They broke into the school broom storage and grabbed a pair of brooms. They glanced at each other and pushed off the ground, rocketing through the air, laughing wildly as they circled around each other and chased each other through the sky.

Albus felt free and clear, laughing without a care through the moonlight sky, smiling at Malfoy as he trained his broom to more and more daring stunts. After they had ridden into exhaustion, Albus and Malfoy landed on a small hill next to the Quidditch goalposts and dismounted, lying down next to each other companionately as they tried to catch their breath.

Albus Potter stared at the sky and smiled. "You're good. Are you going to try out for the House team?"

"I have to."

Albus furrowed his eyebrows, his mood reverting back to what it had been all day long. "Why?"

Malfoy sighed in between his deep breaths and pushed the broom an inch away from him. "Because… because father expects me to make it onto a Quidditch team."

"Same with my father. But why do you care what your father thinks?"

Malfoy turned his head and raised an eyebrow. "Don't you care about what your father thinks?"

Albus flushed a little but shrugged. "Yeah I do…" He thought back to the conversation he had with Lily on the train and blurted out, "I know he'll still love me if I don't make it onto the team. But I don't want him to just love me. I want him to be proud of me."

Malfoy leaned forward, picking at a blade of grass. He held himself with absolute poise, with furrowed eyebrows. There was a pause before the blonde said, "That's how I feel too. I've always felt like a disappointment to father. He always brags to people when we are at parties or events. But… when no one is around, sometimes I feel like getting onto the team is the last chance to actually make my father think I'm a real Malfoy."

Albus shot up. It was as if Malfoy had read his mind. He turned to the blonde. "Same here. I just… sometimes I don't think I'm a real Potter, you know? Like… everybody always just accepts that I'm Harry Potter's son and they expect that I'm going to do just as awesomely as he did at everything he tried."

Malfoy nodded sympathetically, shrugging his shoulders. "That's exactly the same for me." The blonde gave sideways glance, radiating a nervousness that Albus didn't believe the boy could even feel. After a long while, Malfoy admitted awkwardly, "I've never even said all this out loud before."

Albus shrugged, feeling a nervousness growing inside. "I've tried to tell Lily before but… she doesn't understand."

The boys shifted their eyes away from each other for a long moment, unsure about how to even continue any conversation. Then Malfoy cleared his throat awkwardly and pointed up to Gryffindor Tower. "Do you think that we could fly into the tower through an open window?"

"I don't know. Probably."

Malfoy shifted awkwardly before smirking to the other boy. "Wanna race?"

Albus ginned back instantly and jumped on his broom, pushing off against the ground as his dorm mate scrambled onto his broom, cursing lightheartedly at the boy as they laughed their way through the night sky.

* * *

Author's Note: Let me know what you think about the characters so far! If you have any suggestions or comments, please leave me a review!


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

* * *

The first few weeks passed quickly. Albus stuck by Malfoy's side almost all day long, every day. Albus told himself that it was because their school schedules were similar, but the reality was that they spent far more time outside of the classroom, including many nights practicing Quidditch. They stayed away from heavier topics like their families and just got to know each other on a more human level. His family and friends kept their distance from them both, but Albus couldn't bring himself to care. Life just felt natural around Malfoy.

Albus got letters from his parents almost every day, as well as baskets of foods and knitted goods from Gran. Malfoy got much more lavish gifts from his parents and grandparents, even though he had nobody to share it with other than Albus; all of the Weasleys and Potters ignored the blonde's existence.

Then one day, a large brown owl came and deposited a letter at Albus's plate. Rose asked, "Who's that from?"

"12 Grimmauld Place… Teddy Lupin?" Albus flushed, wondering why his god-brother was sending him a letter.

Malfoy's eyes glanced up. "You mean Edward Lupin? He's my cousin you know, even though I've never met him. How do you know him?"

Albus blinked and thought about the connection for a moment. "My dad is his god-father. But he essentially grew up with us. He's more like a brother I guess. How is he your cousin?"

"My grandmother on my father's side is a Black. Edward's grandmother was my grandmother's sister. So she is his great-aunt… I think."

"A Black?" Louis stuttered out, speaking to Malfoy for the first time.

"Yes, the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black." Malfoy raised an eyebrow, looking around at the blank faces as he addressed the Weasley clan for the first time. "Oh come on, Weasleys. Your family is ancient too. Surely you've heard of the Blacks."

Albus struggled to remember. "I think my dad's god-father was Sirius Black."

Malfoy shrugged nonchalantly and went back to eating his breakfast, his interest in the conversation waning.

One of the Weasleys at the edge of the group muttered, "You can keep your opinions about our family to yourself too, next time."

Albus stood up, forgetting that he was in the middle of the Great Hall. "What is wrong with you? All Malfoy said was that our family is ancient. He didn't mean anything bad by it."

"Potter." Malfoy muttered, trying to pull him down.

But Albus felt emboldened and ashamed for his family, so he brushed Malfoy aside and continued. "Gran would be ashamed of how you guys are treating him. He hasn't done anything wrong and he's been nothing but nice to me all month. And you guys treat him like dirt."

Hugo stood up too, his face contorted with rage. "You don't know what you're talking about, Al." He spit at Malfoy and pointed. "His dad killed Albus Dumbledore. You know… the guy you're named after? Malfoy Senior let an army of Death Eaters into the castle and they killed him."

Albus flushed and wavered, since he hadn't heard that before. He barely knew anything about his namesake other than what was on the Chocolate Frog card. Nonetheless, he steeled himself through his reddening neck. "Since when do we blame a teenager for what their dad did?"

"Potter!" Malfoy grabbed his robes and physically forced him halfway down. "You aren't helping."

Albus spun around in confusion, before turning back to them. He was met with the guilty but stubborn faces of his family and knew instantly that Malfoy was right. He shrugged his shoulder out of Malfoy's grasp and smoothed his robes.

After a moment, knowing that he wasn't hungry in the slightest, he stood up, grabbed Teddy's letter in one hand, and marched out of the Great Hall. He was so angry that he didn't even hear Malfoy come up from behind and catch up to him. Malfoy put a hand on Albus's shoulder and turned him towards the blonde.

"Potter, stop. Please." Malfoy stared at the ground, seemingly foreign nervousness permeating throughout him. "I want to… thank you."

Albus felt exasperated and tired all at once. "You shouldn't have to thank me. I should be apologizing to you. I can't believe my family treats anyone like this. It has nothing to do with you."

"It has everything to do with me. I'm the Slytherin in your midst."

Albus snorted. "You're a Gryffindor, not a Slytherin. I don't give a damn what your dad did or whatever. It has nothing to do with you. You're my friend. I'm not going to have my family attack my friend."

Malfoy's eyes went wide and Albus took the opportunity to start walking towards their first class. After a few steps, Malfoy caught up with him. "I'm… your friend?"

Albus blushed just from hearing Malfoy repeat what he said. He tried to hide it as much as possible by returning the comment lightly, "Yeah of course you are."

They walked in silence for a little bit until Malfoy stopped and blurted out quietly, "I've never really had a friend before."

Albus stopped next to him and blinked at the other boy, who all of the sudden seemed shy and unsure of himself. Suddenly Albus saw behind the walls Malfoy had been keeping around himself, even during those Quidditch nights when they felt like they could talk about anything. He wasn't the cool, collected aristocrat everyone else saw. He was just an unsure teenage boy, like Albus. Somehow, getting to see Malfoy like that seemed incredibly intimate. It made Albus feel uncomfortable and jittery.

Albus's voice stuttered as he tried to say, "M-m-me too."

Malfoy snorted. "You've got a whole clan of friends, Potter."

The brunette squared his shoulders and leaned his head against the wall, trying to process the emotions running through him. "Yeah but I didn't choose any of them." He turned to his dorm mate and tried to string together a coherent sentence. "They were chosen for me. I chose you."

"Why though? You didn't need to cause this fight with your family. You could've ignored me like Louis does."

Albus opened his mouth and closed it again, not sure of what to say, so he just ended up shrugging.

Malfoy seemed to sense his discomfort and let the non-answer slide. After a moment, the two boys started walking down the hall again, an awkward pause falling between them. The blonde cleared his throat and nodded towards the letter, making an obvious attempt to change the conversation. "You never read the letter."

"Oh!" Albus fumbled with the letter and opened it up. He read it quickly. "He was just inviting me to a Halloween Party at his house."

Malfoy shrugged and walked next to his friend. "Well sounds like you should go."

Albus shook his head, "But that doesn't make any sense. He knows I can't. Can you even leave Hogwarts for Halloween? And why didn't he invite the rest of the family?"

The blonde boy didn't have any answers. Albus sighed and stuffed the invitation into his book bag just as they were approaching the classroom. He glanced over to Malfoy and watched as the blonde readjusted his face and cleared it of all emotion. The walls were back up.

* * *

That weekend, as he was gathering up his schoolwork in the Common Room, he was approached by Professor Longbottom. The man seemed to be agitated but doing his best to appear as if he was not.

"Albus?"

"Yes, Uncle Neville?"

The Professor smiled warmly. "Your father wants to see you in the Headmistress's Office."

The boy blinked. "Just me? Should I go get Lily or James?"

Longbottom shook his head. "No, Harry just asked for you. The password to the gargoyle is 'licorice.' Now run along now."

Albus shrugged to Malfoy, who arched a quiet eyebrow and nodded a goodbye.

The youngest Potter approached the Headmistress's Office with trepidation, having never gotten into trouble and so had never stepped inside the office. He stared at the gargoyle and cleared his throat, muttering the password. As he went up the staircase to the office, he heard his father's voice yelling at Professor McGonagall.

"—seats on the Wizengamot. Do you have any idea—"

The stern elderly lady retorted quickly, "Not if you become the Chief Warlock, Harry…"

There was a pause. "No. I'm not doing that. We are not going down that route. The Black votes should be enough. Besides, Shacklebolt has been a loyal friend. We cannot—"

"It may be necessary if we are to stop a bloody war."

The auror cursed. "This is politics, not war, Minerva. Don't escalate this beyond what it is. Draco wouldn't—"

"Use your senses, Harry. It's the only permanent way to keep Lord Malfoy from obtaining the majority he needs to—" her voice faded into a whisper as she continued speaking hurriedly to his father.

War? Chief Warlock? Malfoy? Albus's hands were shaking as he knocked on the door. The elder voice beckoned him in.

Harry Potter was standing by the fireplace, wiping his face of the anger and emotion to present a weak smile to his youngest son. "Hey, Al. How has your schoolwork been?"

"It's been good, dad." Albus cleared his throat and bowed slightly to the Headmistress. "Good evening, Headmistress."

The older woman clasped her hands together and gave a firm, tight smile. "To you as well, Mr. Potter. I will leave you two to discuss things." She left the office, leaving Albus alone with his father.

Albus shuffled awkwardly, trying to remember a time when it was just the two of them in a single room. To be a Potter-Weasley was to be constantly surrounded by a huge, loving family.

The Head Auror cleared his throat and widened his eyes briefly. "Have you ever been to the Headmistress's office?"

"No."

The elder Potter smiled widely, his smile genuine. "Then you should meet your namesakes." He gestured to the wall of Headmasters who had been watching intently.

Albus started to shake slightly as he stared at the enormity of men and women on the wall. None of them looked like him at all. They were all old and withered, except for one, near the bottom.

Harry pointed to one of the portraits and smiled. "Do you recognize him?"

The younger Potter scrunched up his face but remembered an instant later from his Chocolate Frog card. "That's Dumbledore."

"That's right, Al." Harry smiled and patted his son on his back. "How are you, Professor?"

"I'm well, young Harry." Dumbledore smiled, the twinkle in his eyes bright behind his glasses. "Are you doing well in school this year, Albus?"

"Y-y-yes, Headmaster."

"No need to be formal, dear boy! Call me Albus."

Albus smirked at the quirky man. "Okay… Albus."

"Harry has told me all about you and how well you've been doing in school and with your magic. First in your class in Defense? You take after your father in that. He's quite proud of you."

Albus felt his eyes crowd with emotion. "Thank you."

He felt his father grip him lightly, holding him against his side. "Can young Albus come visit you sometimes? I'd love for him to hear some of your old stories, Professor."

"Anytime, my boy!"

Albus smiled, knowing that he couldn't just barge into McGonagall's office to talk to a painting, but he nodded anyways.

His father then pointed him down to the youngest man on the wall, who had long, black greasy hair and the most foul expression on his face.

The auror cleared his throat. "Good to see you again, Professor."

"Potter." The portrait kept his voice as neutral as possible.

"Albus, this is Severus Snape. Professor, this is my son, Albus Severus Potter."

"Pleased to meet you, Professor."

The former headmaster looked the child up and down and nodded slightly, not uttering another word. Harry took that queue and brought his son to some chairs on the opposite side of the room.

"Do you remember what I told you about Professor Snape?"

"That he was a Slytherin, and that he was the bravest man you ever knew."

"That he was. He gave up everything, including his own life, to save me and to save wizard-kind. He didn't do it for fame or for glory. In fact, it took me years just to convince the governors to put his portrait up, and still to this day there are people who think he was a traitor. But if Professor Snape taught me anything… he taught me that…" The elder Potter's face turned grave, glancing beyond his son to the portrait wall, as if he was speaking to himself, "He taught me that a true hero always does what is right, regardless of how shunned or persecuted you may become."

"What are you talking about, Dad?"

The auror sighed and returned to looking at his son. "Lily told me about what's been happening with the young Malfoy boy. I know it mustn't be easy having him in Gryffindor."

Albus flushed and shrugged, instantly on the defense. "It's really easy. He's my friend."

His father splayed his hands. "That's not what I meant. I meant with your cousins and your brother and sister. James and Lily had talked to me last week because they thought that I would talk some sense into you." The man smiled softly and said, "Needless to say, James and Lily were the ones that needed talking sense to. You're right, what you told them. You should never blame someone for the actions of others."

The elder Potter shifted awkwardly. "But that's not why I wanted to talk to you today. I wanted you to know more about Albus Dumbledore's death. I know that I haven't told you very much about why I named you after them. But in light of what Hugo said, I think you deserve to know more."

Albus squirmed, not sure why he needed a history lesson. But then he saw the raw emotion in his father's eyes and he felt like he needed to know.

Harry smiled faintly at his son. "Draco Malfoy didn't kill Dumbledore. Yes, it's true; he led a handful of Death Eaters into this castle. And yes, he did disarm Dumbledore. But at the end of the day, Draco… Draco was about to surrender to Dumbledore when the Death Eaters arrived. And the man who delivered the Killing Curse was… Severus Snape."

Albus's eyes went wide with shock. "W-what?"

The auror sighed and nodded. "Severus Snape was a spy. He had to kill Dumbledore to prove that he was a true Death Eater. And Dumbledore was dying— he had convinced Snape to kill him before the attack began. Dumbledore knew he was going to die that day. And he wanted Snape to be the one to do it. Even now, there are many witches and wizards who think Snape wasn't a spy but was a traitor. They don't want to look at the evidence and the sacrifices Severus Snape made to make sure that… certain secrets were kept safe. His and Albus's deaths, their sacrifices, their ability to do what was right, even though it wasn't popular, even though Severus will never be recognized for the true hero he was… that is what made him and Albus the bravest men I've ever known."

His father reached over and touched Albus on the shoulder. "I've been proud of you from the moment you were born. The first time you hopped on a broom, the first time you showed your magic and broke your mom's vase… when you got your Hogwarts letter… I was proud of you. But I've never been prouder than when I heard that you stood up against your whole family to defend a boy, because he was your friend and because it was the right thing to do."

Albus was openly crying quiet tears at his father. He launched himself into his father's arms and gave him a large hug.

The auror returned the hug fiercely. "One last thing, Al. Remember the story of Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy. Sometimes people get blamed or get credit for things they did or didn't do. Don't believe them; things are often not as they appear. Follow your heart. Follow the truth. Decide for yourself. This year you may hear things about the Malfoys. Don't believe a word of it. Trust your heart and discern the truth, okay?"

"Okay dad." Albus wiped away his tears and smiled. He spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and listening to war stories from his father.

* * *

That evening, in the Common Room, Hugo Weasley muttered an awkward and short apology to Malfoy, who accepted it kindly. Hugo walked away muttering about Aunt Hermione and Gran.

* * *

Author's Note: Thank you secretlysmitten and guy77081 for writing reviews! I hope you like this chapter. There'll be more plot soon to come.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

* * *

The next morning, Albus got dressed in light robes and tried to swallow a light breakfast, his hands shaking. His broom was leaned precariously against the table.

"Nervous much, Potter?" Malfoy smirked and sat next to him with his own broom.

Albus shot him a deadly glare and returned to nibbling his bacon.

Down the table, Rose Weasley snorted towards the blonde, sneering, "You're trying out for the team today too, Malfoy?"

The blonde raised his eyebrows. "Last time I checked, Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts were open to all Gryffindors. Was I wrong?"

Rose rolled her eyes with disgust and backed away from the table.

As she walked away, Malfoy looked over to his friend and whispered to him conspiratorially, "At least your cousins aren't ignoring me anymore."

Albus chuckled despite himself and began eating more regularly, calmed by his friend's presence. When they were finished, Malfoy and Albus made it through the castle down to the grounds. With each step forward, Albus felt increasingly like his heart was pounding out of his chest. It seemed like the blonde could sense this, and he stopped, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"It's going to be okay. You're going to make the team, just you see."

Albus nodded and took a deep breath, maintaining pace with the other boy.

As they went down the steps just outside the Castle, they were met by the Headmistress and a tall, aristocratic man with short, blonde hair and a richly ornate cane. Albus's first thought was that there was no mistaking him, even though he had never seen a picture of the Lord Malfoy— he looked like an older, more rigid version of his son.

"Ah there you are, Scorpius."

Malfoy shot a glance to his brunette friend before approaching the man, stopping shortly in front of him. "Hello father. I am pleased to see you."

"It is good to see you too. And who is this?"

Albus drew himself up and bowed, "Good morning, Lord Malfoy."

The lord raised a slight eyebrow and returned the bow as slightly as possible. "Ah. A Potter. Albus Potter, I'm assuming."

"Yes sir."

"Very good. My son has written many nice things about you." The older blonde turned to the Headmistress. "Shall we continue our discussion after the tryouts?"

"Of course, Draco. Just come up to my office when you are done."

The lord gave a slight bow to her as she retreated, but not before she glanced with worry towards Albus for a moment.

Lord Malfoy pointed to the grounds with a cane. "Shall we, boys?"

Albus followed the two blondes awkwardly. All he could think about was what he had overheard from the Headmistress and his dad. He had to shake himself out of his own thoughts when the elder Malfoy directed a question at him.

"Is it true that your middle name is Severus?"

"Yes, sir."

The blonde man gave a slight, tight-lipped smile in appreciation. "Severus was my god-father. Did you know that?"

Albus tried to keep his jaw from falling to the floor as he politely replied, "No, sir."

"I never had a chance to thank your father for what he did for Severus's portrait in the Headmistress's office. It was a kind and decent thing to do, fighting the other governors the way he did. I'm assuming you've seen Severus?"

"Yes, sir." He desperately wanted to get on Lord Malfoy's good side for some reason, as if he needed to impress the man. But even as he was thinking that, a voice called out behind him.

"Albus?" His father was approaching, but at a slow pace, darting his eyes towards the blonde men next to him. But the auror smiled and approached the younger blonde. "Now you must be Scorpius."

Draco prodded the young man when he didn't bow. So the young Malfoy bowed gracefully towards the Head Auror, "Yes I am, Lord Potter."

Harry Potter returned the bow but waved away his hand. "So formal! You don't have to call me that. No one does outside of silly court documents. Call me Harry."

The younger Malfoy gave Albus a knowing look, as if to say that there would be no circumstances that he would ever call the hero of the wizarding world 'Harry.'

There was another awkward pause as the two men eyed each other uncomfortably. Finally, the auror extended his hand and the other man shook it, the two men standing by their sons. Scorpius and Albus shared a glance, both cringing at the awkwardness in the moment.

An even longer pause elapsed before the elder Malfoy cleared his throat, his tone of voice conciliatory and unsure. "I was just telling young Albus about Severus's portrait. I never found the opportunity to thank you for that."

The other man smiled slightly a few times, his smile not quite meeting his eyes. "Not a problem. I wanted to do it." They stared at each other for another moment before the auror pointed suddenly at the Quidditch pitch. "Shall we go see some Quidditch?"

The men led their sons towards the pitch, with the two powerful men walking next to each other, engaging in awkward conversation. "Remember our old matches, Draco?"

The lord sniffed and humored the auror. "The ones I won more than the ones I lost."

The auror grinned, obviously trying to assuage the tension and turned to the boys. "We were Seekers for our House teams in the same years." He turned back to the blonde man and cleared his throat, at a loss for what to say next. "So! Erm… will it be strange wearing red and gold for the games, if Scorpius makes the team?"

Draco snorted lightly, again humoring the other man. "I don't know about wearing those horribly clashing colors, but a parent supports their children, not the team."

"I suppose so!" Harry smiled in response, eyeing the blonde man. He had a look on his face that Albus knew meant that his dad wanted to ask something but didn't know how to put it delicately. Albus cringed, hoping that it wouldn't come out insultingly.

Finally, his dad just blurted out, "You seem to be handling your only son being in Gryffindor very well."

The lord adjusted his cane and raised his chin with indignity and pride. He eyed his son for a moment and sneered at the elder Potter. "Well, the Sorting Hat is obviously getting too old to make any accurate choices anymore. I've told Minerva to get rid of it. But I can't blame my son for the Hat's stupidity."

The Head Auror wiped his hands on his robes and cleared his throat, pointing to the pitch. "Well, there you go boys. Me and Draco will take the stands. See you on the other side."

He gave a winning smile to the two of them and walked off, while the elder Malfoy simply nodded and followed the other man, pointedly giving a clear look to his son that obviously was meant to mean that Scorpius was not supposed to disappoint him.

As the two men passed out of earshot, Albus muttered to his friend, "Well that was awkward."

"You don't say," Malfoy retorted dryly. "They seem to get along fine enough though, for being such supposedly sworn enemies."

Albus stayed quiet, thinking about what his dad had said about hearing things about the Malfoys this year. Everything he had overheard and everything his father had said somehow seemed to make the Quidditch trials almost insignificant.

Albus tried to listen to James, this year's House team captain, explain the rules of the tryouts while simultaneously glaring at Malfoy. It just seemed so small to worry about Quidditch when he was still processing that his father's high-school rival attempted to kill his first-name namesake, only to be beaten to it by that rival's godfather, who murdered a school headmaster because that man asked him to do it, and who also happened to be his middle-name namesake. Even beyond that history he had just learned (and how uncomfortable it made to feel about his own name), Albus was worried for his dad and what him and the Headmistress had been talking about, and the veiled warning his dad had given him about how people would be spreading lies about the Malfoy family.

Yet above all of that was the fact that his dad had told Albus that he was proud of him. Even if it had been for just standing up for his friend, it had been the first time that his father had verbally told him that he was proud of him. Albus loved Quidditch. But the biggest reason he had been so worried about making the team was because he thought that was the only way he'd ever really make his dad proud.

Having his father's pride in him instilled a confidence so that by the time Albus actually kicked off the ground to begin the Quidditch trials, he soared through the air without a care in the world.

* * *

Both he and Malfoy made the team— Malfoy as a Chaser and Albus as the Seeker. He gave Malfoy a hug when he found out the news, laughing uproariously, as their bemused fathers stood with some of the other parents, clapping in the distance.

Then Lily came up to them, chewing her bottom lip before reaching with her hand out, "Congratulations, Malfoy."

Scorpius blinked before he recovered and shook her hand. "Thanks, Potter."

Albus puffed up his chest in pride at his family before Lily gave him a knowing look and said, "I told you that you'd make the team."

He rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her and laughed his way with Malfoy back to the castle.

* * *

Later that night, after the adrenaline faded and he was alone in the room of snoring boys, he sat in the windowsill and stared at the nighttime sky, where the pennants, stands, and posts of the Quidditch field stood off in the distance.

"What's wrong?"

Albus almost shot out of his seat. He hadn't even heard Malfoy approach as the pajama-wearing boy leaned against the wall next to him. The brunette moved his feet so that the other boy could sit on the sill.

After Malfoy sat down, Albus shrugged and shook his head, "Something my dad said I guess, I don't know."

"What did he say?"

"He told me that he was proud of me."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "And? Aren't fathers supposed to say that?"

"Yeah! But… I don't know. I've been waiting and anticipating today for so many years now. And now that I've gotten the spot on the team… I don't know what I'm supposed to do with it."

"Isn't it obvious? You're supposed to win now."

Albus rolled his eyes at the dry sarcasm in his friend's voice. "Well obviously. I meant… I had always assumed that I would fail. I mean, I didn't make Prefect like James, I'm not at the top of my class like Lily…"

"So? I'm none of those things either and I'm okay."

"Yeah but I'm Harry Potter's son."

"I'm Draco Malfoy's son, Potter. We've been over this. I understand the expectations on you better than anybody. You did it. You've made the team. We both made it."

Albus sighed at his inability to tell his friend what was on his mind. He didn't know how to verbalize how uneasy he felt at achieving something he always thought was the key to making his father proud, just hours after his father told him that he had already made him the most proud he could be, just for being Malfoy's friend. His father, without knowing, had helped turned his priorities upside down.

His priorities had been shifting all semester, but Albus knew that the past week had made it permanent. His life used to be trying to make the Quidditch team and spending time with family. Now it was quickly just becoming Malfoy.

Being around Malfoy. Sitting next to him at breakfast as they rattled off history dates. Making magic airplanes to stick in the blonde's hair in Herbology when Uncle Neville was helping another student. Listening to Malfoy's condescending rants when Albus screwed up instructions in Potions. Watching his light blonde hair glow silver in the moonlight, his soft skin…

Albus shook himself out of his thoughts, staring awkwardly at Malfoy and wondering where that errant thought had come from.

Malfoy looked at his friend bemused. "Everything okay there?"

The brunette blushed heatedly and muttered out some apology, rushing himself to bed, his head spinning with a whirlwind of thoughts.

* * *

Author's Note: do not doubt the donuts: I like Edward Lupin too! He will play an important role soon. (Also agreed on Lily, but had to be done). secretlysmitten: I like to think that Harry would be pretty tight-lipped about the war, so that the little ones just have to figure it out as it becomes relevant. guy77081: Yes about the Quidditch at night. They needed a chance to break down the barriers a little. Cookies n' cream: Thank you for writing a review! It's great to hear feedback from other authors so we can all get better. So keep letting me know what you think and what you like or don't like!


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

* * *

Albus spent the next month staring at his friend when he thought Malfoy wasn't looking. First there were the small things, like how meticulous Malfoy was with his toothbrush in the mornings, "even wizards can get cavities, Potter." Or like how he always wrote in the most beautiful cursive with huge loops, even when it was shorthand, "Mother says if you can't write well you might as well not write at all." Or how Malfoy had two kinds of smiles, a cold one reserved for everyone else, and a huge, toothy grin that Malfoy only reserved for when they were alone or when no one was looking.

Then it began to seep into larger things, like how soft Malfoy's skin was, or how deep his eyes seemed, and how it seemed like only Albus could read what was really going on in those eyes.

This began to effect how Albus treated the other boy. They shared a closeness, with so many small touches, like pats on the back, or glancing shoulders during Potions. Albus came from a loving family that shared a lot of hugs and cheek-pinches and high-fives and close, confined spaces where people brushed shoulders. But those touches never affected him the way Malfoy's touches affected him. For some reason, this both scared Albus in a way that shook him to his core and seemed to be the most natural thing in the world.

Then something happened that changed their friendship forever.

* * *

Flint, a large, Slytherin, seventh-year, rounded a corner at the same time as them, causing Malfoy's bag to break. Flint kicked the textbooks around, spitting on the smaller blonde. "Watch where you're going, you fucking poof."

Albus quietly observed Malfoy as he blushed for the first time, heating up his pale skin lightly. The Slytherin and his friends walked away laughing at each other, leaving the two fifth years in the hallway by themselves. They picked up his books quietly, not mentioning the blush on Malfoy's skin or the pejorative term Flint used, until the two boy's fingers brushed against each other. A jolt of electricity seemed to shoot through them.

Albus's eyes shot up and met the Malfoy's gray eyes, some strange and still unknowable piece of information sinking in. Malfoy seemed to be realizing something as well, as a wave of sadness seemed to be exuding out of his body. Malfoy repaired his bag with a spell and walked towards their class in silence. Albus walked a pace behind him, his whole body feeling like it was on the verge of throwing up.

A poof.

He knew his friend. Malfoy's walls never let any insults in. Nothing affected him until Flint had called him a poof. Why was that the only thing that affected him? Because it was true. He suddenly remembered why Malfoy had said his father had him transferred out of Durmstrang and he stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"Malfoy?"

The blonde stood there, his entire body shaking imperceptibly. But he still turned to his only friend. "Yes?"

Albus knew the answer before he asked the question, but the question needed to be asked. He choked up and stuttered out, "You said that your dad made you leave Durmstrang because of something you did. Was that something… with another boy?"

Malfoy tightened his grip on his bag and swallowed. It was only then that Albus noted the tears shining in his friend's eyes as he gave the barest of nods. Not a teardrop fell as Albus walked past his friend, his feet on autopilot.

* * *

They didn't share a single word for the rest of the week.

* * *

Albus couldn't process the information and what it meant for the months of small touches that he had shared with the other boy, even though he knew what it meant on an intellectual level. On an emotional level, it scared him and seemed so unreal. It was a more tolerant world for… those kind of people… than it had been in previous decades, but it was still extremely rare for the wizarding world, where reproduction literally meant survival for their way of life.

He spent the whole week obsessing over the revelation that Malfoy was… that way… and what it meant for Albus. He stayed as far away from the blonde as possible, trembling at the thought that somehow, maybe if he didn't touch the other boy, the errant thoughts would just go away. Instead, it seemed to have the reverse. He couldn't focus in school. He had to force himself to stare at the desk instead of looking at Malfoy.

The brunette just simply couldn't believe that he, Albus Severus Potter, was one of them, just like Malfoy. Albus had never really noticed himself noticing other boys. Then again, he had never noticed girls either. Albus's select few, brief, and disastrous relationships with girls were more a panic when they were ongoing and a relief when they ended. But as he thought of it, trembling behind the confines of his curtained bed at nights, Albus knew he had noticed men before. He just didn't know what he was doing at the time. He had always been drawn towards hovering his eyes on the other boys when he thought nobody else was looking. He just hadn't realized that those were actually crushes and he had been… one of them… the whole time.

He got out his father's Invisibility Cloak (he and James alternated months when they got to use it) and walked through the corridors, trying to shake the revelation from him. He didn't have anybody he could talk to… except.

He approached the gargoyle and said, "Licorice." The gargoyle gave way to the stairs and he went up, sneaking into McGonagall's office. He took the Cloak off and sighed, approaching the sleeping portraits. He cleared his throat when he saw Dumbledore writing at his desk in his portrait.

"Albus, my boy!"

"Evening, Head… Albus." The boy said uncertainty. "I have a question to ask and I don't know anybody else that I can talk to about this."

"Talk away, Albus. If I had a lemon drop for every time a student told me that very same sentence…"

Albus tried to smile but the smile faded to his nervous thoughts. "Is it okay to be…" Albus gulped, saying the word in his mind and out loud for the first time. "gay?"

Dumbledore chuckled, shaking his head. "My dear boy, I was gay."

Albus's mouth gaped like a fish as he struggled to grasp what that meant. The most powerful wizard in the world in the last century, except maybe his dad, had been gay.

The former Headmaster sighed. "Do you think you were the first boy in these walls to have this revelation? It's happened to thousands before you and it'll happen to thousands after you. Of course it is okay to be who you are. Never change who you are just to make other people happy."

"I… won't." Albus said uncertainly, wishing at once that there was a way he could change. It had nothing to do with making other people happy— he just wanted to be happy. Well, there was one boy he wouldn't mind making happy. "I just don't know what I should do. There's this guy… and I think I may like him. How do you know if you like someone?"

"Same thing your father told you, young Albus. What does your heart tell you?"

"It pretty much beats out of my chest whenever I'm around him these days."

"Then I think it's a pretty fair assessment that you like him."

"But how do you know if you can… talk to him? What do you say?"

"Are you friends with him?"

"…Yes?"

"Then it's easy," Dumbledore exclaimed, "All you have to do is tell him. If he's a true friend, even if he doesn't like you in return, you won't lose his friendship. If he's not a true friend, then you've weeded out someone who shouldn't have been your friend. If he likes you in return, you have an opportunity for love."

"Well, it might be hard to talk to him right now."

"Why is that?"

"I've been ignoring him for more than a week."

"Ah." Dumbledore pushed his glasses up on his nose.

"You stupid boy." A more firm voice spoke out nearby.

"What?" Albus stuttered it out, staring at eye level at an angry Severus in the portrait.

"Don't be a coward, Potter. Summon up that Gryffindor courage your family is supposedly famous for and tell him how you feel. Don't waste your life wondering what could have been, if you prove to be too much of a coward to say what's on your mind. Don't wait until it's too late and you've lost every chance you could have had. Don't be like me in that regard."

Albus's head was swirling with the information from his namesakes and nodded. He thanked them both before leaving the Headmistress's office, his head finally settling into a course of action. He knew what he had to do.

* * *

Author's Note: Thank you YexiangYuyi. I hope you liked this chapter. If you read this, let me know what you thought. Things are going to get interesting from here on out and I hope you let me know what you like and don't like.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

* * *

"Stuff it, Potter."

"Malfoy, please!"

"You can't just ignore me for a week and then tell me we need to talk." The blonde was clearly exasperated and depressed. "I get it. You don't want to be around queers. I should've realized clans that procreate as much as your family does would not look kindly on people… like me."

"No! They don't… I mean mom and dad never even talked about it… But that's not…" Albus was tripping over himself trying to keep up with Malfoy, who went into the library and made a point of closing the library door before Albus could go through.

The brunette trembled, his eyes nearing the point of tears. He morosely wandered back towards the Gryffindor Common Room. He wiped the tears that were forming and tried to compose himself. The Weasley clan was assembled in the room, playing games with their friends. Lily motioned to a place on the couch as everyone laughed around them. Not having anything else to do, he sat next to his younger sister.

She snorted and looked around. "Where's Malfoy? I think this is the first time this semester that you're actually not with him. It's like you two have become conjoined twins."

Albus shrugged, his face clearly exuding the misery he felt, especially in contrast to the joyful, carefree nature the Weasley family he had been such an active part of in previous years.

She leaned in towards him, inspecting him closely. "Okay there's something wrong. What's up?"

Albus just shook his head and allowed himself to be pulled towards a quieter room. Lily closed the door and gave her brother a knowing look. "Okay, it's about Malfoy, yeah?"

He gave her a look of shock.

"Oh come on now don't look so surprised. I don't have to be Aunt Hermione to deduce it. You're alone for the first time and you look like a kicked puppy."

"Yeah. It's about Malfoy."

"Lover's tiff?" She stuck her tongue out jokingly.

Albus shifted uncomfortably at the statement for being too close to home.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm kidding, Al. Merlin, boys don't know how to take a joke when it comes anywhere close to sex or sexuality. So what's the issue then? Why is he mad at you?"

"I've been stupid and a shitty friend."

"I highly doubt that. You've been nothing but loyal to him." She snorted. "Even against your own family. He'll remember that and come around eventually. Just give him space, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, Al. Glad we had this little chat. Now can you stop being so distant with us and maybe actually be a part of your own family?"

Albus smiled lightly and nodded. As soon as he left he played a few rounds of Exploding Snap with Hugo and Louis and felt infinitely better.

* * *

"Um… 12 Grimmauld Place!" He threw the ash in the fire and called his god-brother.

A red-blonde girls head answered. "Albus? How are you doing sweetie? How's Hogwarts and the gang?"

Albus quietly raised his eyebrows as he recognized the part-Veela witch. It appeared the rumors of their romance were true. "I'm good Victoire. Everybody is good and happy here. Is Teddy there?"

"Of course!" Her head disappeared and a few moments later the handsome face of his god-brother appeared.

"Well Albus! I had expected to hear from you earlier. Party is less than a week away, you know."

"I know. That's actually why I wanted to call. I want to come but… can I bring a friend?"

"Well… I assume you can bring a date. Does she have good grades? That's the only way your dad convinced McGonagall to let you leave for my little party."

"Yeah, I think so. But… it's not a she, it's a he."

"Oh. Oh! Who then?"

"Malfoy."

Teddy nodded several times. "Yeah, James has been talking my ear off about the man. I'd be interested to meet him. Just clear it with McGonagall."

"Okay, I'll talk to her."

"Wait, before you go, Al."

"What's up?"

"Why do you want to bring him? Is he… just a friend?"

Albus's neck and ears immediately began burning up, "Yeah, he's just a friend." He knew he didn't sound convincing to the young Lupin, who held a very skeptical face. Figuring that his awkward denial was more an omission than anything else, Albus abruptly added, "Can you… can you not tell my folks or the family?"

The comprehension was clear on Teddy's face. "Of course not, Al. I'm not Rose Weasley— I'm not going to tell a soul."

"Thank you, Teddy. It's just… not easy."

"Of course not. But you can always talk to me. You know that."

"I know." Albus gulped and stuttered out his only other question, "Why me? Why didn't James or Lily get any invitation?"

Teddy sighed. "I'll tell you when you get here. It's really complicated." He thought about it some more and tried to be as vague as possible as he said, "It has more to do with business than family. I guess? I don't know. You'll see. Don't worry it's nothing bad. And I promise you'll have fun too!"

* * *

Malfoy had become accustomed to sneaking into and out of the classes at the last possible moment, so that Albus wouldn't have an opportunity to pull him aside and talk to him. He had even gone to the lengths of spelling his curtains shut so that he couldn't be approached at night.

Even Louis noticed it after Albus started paring up with him in Potions again, leaving Malfoy to work with one of the bookish Muggleborn girls in their year. Even at that week's Quidditch practices, Malfoy stayed tight lipped and as far away from the brunette as possible.

Finally, three days before Halloween, Albus cornered a dripping wet Malfoy after his shower after practice. The rest of the team had already left the locker rooms, leaving the two of them alone. The blonde seemed to notice this fact at the same time, and so tried to dart past the brunette.

"Scorpius! Please stop."

Albus saw heat rising on the blonde's neck and face. Malfoy stared intently at the other boy, clutching his towel close to his waist. "You just called me Scorpius."

Albus felt a blush rise on his face in return, but was glad that Malfoy had at least acknowledged him again. "I mean that's your name."

Malfoy shrugged and went to the side of the locker rooms. "What do you want?"

"I'm gay."

The blonde nearly dropped the towel, snapping his eyes up to Albus who instantly couldn't meet his eyes.

His heart was pounding out of my chest. Even though he couldn't see, he knew Malfoy's shoulders were sinking. "Don't pull my leg like this."

Albus sat down, staring at the wall. He couldn't bear looking at his friend. "I'm not pulling anything. I'm gay. That's… that's why I… I just didn't know it until you said… It's been real hard. I didn't mean to…"

Albus looked up and Malfoy was sitting on the bench across from him, now wearing his boxers and a pair of jeans. The blonde's walls were clearly crumbling as a spark of hope was slowly growing in those deep, gray eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Albus felt a little irritation inside of him. "I was trying to tell you but you kept leaving the room and stuff… Oh you meant in the hallway." The brunette stared at the ground, "I didn't even know I was. It just kinda… hit me. But that's not… I didn't want to just tell you that. I wanted to…"

"Wanted to what?"

The brunette sucked in a deep breath and just burst through the question that had been burning on his mind all week, "Do you want to go to the Lupin Halloween Party with me?"

Malfoy took his head back for a moment, his eyebrow arching before a small smile began to grow on his face. "Are you asking me out on a date, Potter?"

Albus's throat was too constricted, so he just gave a sharp nod.

He could feel the smile grow on the blonde's face. "Okay."

* * *

Author's Note. Yuyi i- Thank you for the follow up review! I hope his reaction satisfies. I didn't get a chance to update during the week but I'll have another update tomorrow. Also thank you to secretlysmitten and Rachelc85 for reviewing. Gives me encouragement to update more. Let me know if you like this chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

* * *

The next days leading up to the Halloween Party were hellishly awkward for both of the boys, as they started sitting together in classes again. Albus felt like they had reverted back to square one in their friendship, where they didn't seem to be able to carry a coherent sentence and each brush of their shoulders made the brunette jump. After their talk in the changing room, they just shared awkward glances and awkward conversations that they tried vainly to pass of to the rest of the world as being casual.

Albus had no idea how he was supposed to act, now that he had asked a guy out on a date. Holding hands with the blonde seemed weird and foreign, so Albus just sat next Malfoy and just kept giving him glance after glance, as if he wasn't sure Scorpius was even real to begin with. Scorpius tried to hide it better, but it was clear to Albus that he was nervous about the mere idea of going on a date with another boy, even if he knew that he was gay.

* * *

Albus was pounced on by Lily after him and Scorpius split away for one of the first times during one of the few classes they didn't share. She pushed into his shoulder lightly, smiling at him.

"Hey, Al."

"What's up Lily?"

"You tell me. What's going on between you and Scorpius? One minute you're moping all around the castle, the next moment you and him are sitting together with so much tension you could cut it with a knife."

Albus shrugged, trying to stop heat from rising in his neck and face. "I dunno. We are just trying to work through a... fight we had."

Lily rolled her eyes. "What fight? What did you do?"

Albus squirmed and avoided her eyes. "I don't really want to talk about it. But just... things are better, okay?"

His sister didn't look comforted by that, so he pressed further with a sigh, saying, "Malfoy is my best friend aside from you and James. But it's just different having a friend outside of the family, you know?"

"Especially when that family hates him as much as the Weasley's hate him."

"Yeah, that." Albus kicked a loose stone in the walkway. Then after a moment he glanced over to her. "Do you hate him?"

Lily paused. "Well... I don't know. I guess in the beginning I was just irritated, because it was like he was taking my big brother away from me. It's not the same hanging out with Nosy Rose, you know?"

Albus smirked. "Yeah, I know." He sighed and stared ahead, muttering, "Sorry I haven't been around as much this year."

"It's okay!" Lily rushed to say, holding her books to her chest. "That's what I was going to say. I know how much it means to you now. You just needed a friend that wasn't a red-head or your siblings. I get it- that's why I do my Ravenclaw study groups. Besides, Malfoy doesn't seem that bad, from what little I can tell. I guess you just have to get past the icy exterior he puts on for the world."

Albus looked at her. "Wow. Well, I mean. Yeah. That's true. You know... after the Halloween Party, would you like to hang out with us sometimes?"

Lily looked unsure for a moment but smiled nonetheless. "Yeah. I'd like that. Just so I can get to know the boy who's been stealing my brother."

Albus laughed at her and put his arm around her shoulders as she brought him up to date with the latest family news.

* * *

That night, the night before the party, Albus sat on his usual spot in Gryffindor Tower, in the windowsill overlooking the Quidditch pitch. He wasn't surprised when Scorpius hesitantly made his way towards the brunette.

"Can I sit here?"

Albus felt his heart immediately beating heavily, the usual feeling of anxiety and fear mixed with a desire for the boy and a growing sense of awareness about how attracted he was to the boy. "Um... yeah... of course."

Malfoy sat with a sigh, eyeing the other boy. "It's been a weird set of days."

Albus chuckled in spite of himself. "Yeah. I'm sorry... I'm sorry it's been so awkward I guess between us."

The blonde seemed taken aback that Albus would bring it up, but he sighed and looked away. "I know. Part of me was hoping that things would... go back to the way they were before... before you asked me if I was..."

"I know. Me too."

Scorpius then brought his eyes back to meet the other boys. "Things can't be the same though." Scorpius broke into a tiny smirk as he noted dryly. "Especially since you're taking me out on a date tomorrow."

Albus shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, I guess I am."

Malfoy broke eye contact and stared at the small distance between them. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"Why did you ask me on a date?"

Albus pressed his back against the windowsill and cleared his throat awkwardly, muttering, "I don't know. I guess because I... knew I liked you... but I couldn't say it out loud. But also... I thought that if I invited you to a party you'd be less mad at me."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow again before gently chuckling. "That's very Slytherin of you, Potter," He said, before smiling openly, "Although you just admitted you liked me just now."

Albus's face immediately heated up. "I mean..."

Malfoy leaned forward, a seductive look flowing through him. "Can't resist my sexy charm, huh?"

His fought through the rising heat enough to admit, "No, I can't. I couldn't... ever since the first time I shook your hand on the stairs."

Malfoy's faux seduction broke and Albus saw through the walls again- there he was, an unsure teenager, trying to hide his true emotions. With a long breath, Malfoy exhaled shakily and said, "I guess... I couldn't believe you wanted me. I still don't, I guess. I don't know what I'm trying to say."

Albus understood instantly. After a week of ignoring the blonde, Malfoy had developed a wall of distance, trying to convince himself that Albus would never want him. That realization put a current of courage through him as he lifted himself up and breached the last bit of distance between the two boys. Malfoy's whole body tightened, unsure of himself and the other boy.

Albus hesitated only briefly before leaning forward and took the other boy's hand in his. Malfoy's hand was warm and impossibly soft. From the instant their hands touched, Albus feel a rush of magic through him, shocking his heart. Malfoy looked at their joined hand and darted his eyes up to the other boy, waves of emotions on full display on his face.

After a pause, Albus summoned the last bit of courage he had in him to say, "I do want you, Scorpius. I'm sorry... I'm sorry i was so stupid in not seeing it before."

"It's okay. You..." Malfoy cleared his throat and shook his head, unable to finish his thought. So instead he inhaled a shaky breath and said, "I've wanted you to. Ever since I first saw you in person. I just never thought..."

"I know." Albus squeezed their hand slightly. After a long silent pause, Albus thought back to what happened earlier. "Lily says she doesn't hate you anymore."

Scorpius raised his eyebrow again. "That's interesting. What did she say?"

"Just that she understands why I needed a friend outside of the family."

Scorpius eyed him knowingly. "Friends don't hold hands and take each other on dates."

Albus tore his eyes away from their touching hands but didn't break the warmth and magic between them. "I know. I just couldn't tell her yet."

The blonde heir squeezed his hand gently, his voice turning soft. "I understand, Albus. It's going to take time. You don't need to tell her anything until you're ready."

Albus blushed a the use of his first name, which Scorpius almost never used.

"I dunno though." Scorpius smirked at him. "I like being secretive about it a little bit. It kinda feels like the ultimate rebellion against my father."

Albus nodded with a soft smile and squeezed the other boy's hand. They looked at each other and grinned. Albus ran his thumb over the back of Scorpius's hand gently as they stared into the night sky in silence.

* * *

The night of the Halloween Party, the two friends dressed in dress robes. Albus tried not to stare at how form fitting the robes were on the other teenager; he made elegance somehow look natural and easy. Malfoy noticed him staring and Albus had to dart away his eyes, blushing as deeply as he ever had.

"Like what you see, Potter?"

Albus blush grew even more as he muttered, "Shut it, Malfoy." But he still glanced up at the boy's body again nonetheless, much to Scorpius's obvious pleasure.

"Let's umm.. go to McGonagall's office?"

Malfoy smirked and shrugged casually, his hands held behind his back with a grace and dignity. Albus wiped his hands on his robes and stuffed his hands in the pockets, unsure about what he was doing. He felt like he ought to be panicking about going into public with the blonde. What if everybody could tell that they were on a date, even if it was a date to a party? Albus's heart pounded with anxiety. They went up to McGonagall's office, where they were scheduled to Floo to 12 Grimmauld Place. The Headmistress greeted them quickly and motioned them to go, since the school was having their own party downstairs in the Great Hall.

They went in together and threw the flames, Albus stating the address as clearly as he could.

They landed in a pile of soot in the giant fireplace of the residence, with nothing but adults around them. Albus gulped and looked to his friend for reassurance. Malfoy held him for a second with warm eyes before pulling him by the wrist, looking at ease amongst the adults.

"Come on, we need to greet the host."

Albus nodded and looked around until he saw his god-brother. "Hey Teddy!"

"Al!" Teddy gave him a huge hug. "I'm so glad you came!" He released Albus with a huge grin on his face, eyeing the blonde for the first time. "And this must be your plus one."

"Scorpius Malfoy." Malfoy reached out with his hand.

Teddy gripped his hand warmly. "Pleased to meet you, Scorpius. We are cousins or some such, aren't we?"

"Something like that."

"Well I'm glad to hear it. Can I steal my god-brother for a second?"

Scorpius raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Albus who was just as confused. But the blonde nodded with a polite smile. "Of course. I'll be right here."

Teddy thanked him and pulled Albus through the nearest door, which happened to be a tiny closet. Teddy seemed to realize this belatedly and took out his wand to create a small light. Then he grinned at his god-brother and said, "So! Scorpius Malfoy, huh?"

Albus immediately broke into a blush, hiding his eyes from Teddy. "Yeah, I guess so."

"I think it's great! Maybe it'll thaw out the Potter-Weasley-Malfoy thing that's been going on for... the past 600 years or so?"

"That's what everybody's been telling me." The younger boy sighed. "I just... I just want to be happy. I don't care about all of that."

"Of course not. Are you happy?"

The brunette felt his entire body heat up impossibly as he struggled to find something coherent that would avoid him being any more embarrassed than he was. "It's... it's still pretty new. We haven't had a whole lot of time without-"

Teddy cut him off knowingly. "I get it! There aren't exactly that many opportunities to just be alone in that castle. But you're here, yeah? Plenty of empty rooms and bedrooms for you two to... explore." He winked at his god-brother, who felt utterly mortified talking about it with such frankness.

"Yeah, I guess so." Albus gulped and tried to break eye contact.

Teddy sensed the other boy's discomfort and nudged him. "Cheer up, brother. I'm not going to tell anyone anyways. I'm kind of in the same boat with Victoire, as you probably guessed."

Albus snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but the whole family knows about her, Teddy. Besides... she's a... girl. That helps."

The young man sighed and leaned against the wall of the closet. "Yeah, the cousins and you and Lily and James know. But Gran Molly and mom and dad... they don't know yet. That's part of the reason why I'm glad you're here tonight. I'm going to make it official to Victoire." He grinned and reached into his pocket to pull out a wedding ring.

Albus's eyes opened wide. "Wow. Well... that's great news, Teddy!"

Teddy held a goofy grin on his face. "Yeah, I think so. I love her so much."

The younger boy felt a pang in his heart for the two of them, wondering briefly if he'd ever be able to tell his family about Scorpius and him. It seemed like an impossibility. He sighed and told Teddy, "I'm really happy for you."

Teddy pocketed the ring and clapped his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I'm happy for you and Scorpius too. He seems to be nice guy."

Albus smiled in spite of himself. "He is."

Teddy squeezed his shoulder and released, putting his hands in his pockets. "By the way, I still haven't gotten around to telling you the real reason you're here."

Albus raised his eyes and looked at his god-brother. "What? What's going on?"

Teddy gave a mischievous look in his eyes. "Nothing huge! Like I said, it's more business than family," Teddy paused before adding, "...although I guess it's both when you think about it. Anyways, it'll be something cool, nothing scary. I want it to be a surprise, okay? I will announce it later."

Wholly confused, the younger boy tried to get Teddy's attention as he repeated, "Announce? What do you mean?"

But Teddy had already pushed them both of the closet, meeting up with Scorpius, who had introduced himself to a few of the people at the party. But upon reuniting with them, Teddy pulled them away and grinned, saying, "Why don't you guys take a look around, maybe sneak a drink or two? I've got to play adult and be a good host. But I'll catch up to you later, Albus. We have a lot to catch up on! Meanwhile maybe remember what I said about empty rooms?"

Teddy shooed them towards the door with a wink, where the hallway led to the kitchen and a staircase towards the upstairs.

Malfoy gave Albus a bewildered look to the other boy. "What did he mean, 'empty rooms'?"

Albus blushed, "Oh nothing. He just said we should go explore the house."

Malfoy shrugged, "Well, let's get some butterbeer then." He went into the kitchen, returning with two bottles for them. Potter looked around and motioned upstairs, away from the music and laughter downstairs. The house was obviously older, but a lot of effort had clearly gone into making it light and more modern. After searching through some of the rooms, including a huge dusty library, ancient sitting rooms, and rooms filled with dark portraits, Albus and Malfoy made it to room with the Black family tree, which looked like it had been repainted onto the walls recently, with all of the names fresh and clear on the wall.

Albus looked around and gave a low whistle. "Wow."

"Yeah." Malfoy at it intently, pointing to Teddy's name. "There's Edward Lupin."

Albus snorted and pointed to Malfoy's name. "There's your name too!"

"I told you that Edward and I were related." Malfoy looked around for a moment before raising an eyebrow. "You're related to me too."

"Huh?"

The blonde pointed wordlessly to where the Black line had married into the Potter line, down to where James, Lily, and Albus's names laid.

"Wow!" Albus touched his name on the tree shakily.

Malfoy noted dryly, "Well, I guess we can't date now."

Albus's face burned up, his ears beat red. "We aren't related that closely. Look at how far we are on the tree!"

Malfoy snorted lightly and took a swig from his butterbeer.

"Besides, name a wizard family that doesn't have tons of those… whatever the Americans call them… kissing cousins!"

The blonde arched his eyebrow. "Are you saying you want to kiss me, Potter?"

Albus darted his eyes to the ground. "I mean… I wouldn't hate it."

Malfoy smirked, the cocky aristocrat coming out of him as he took a step closer. "But would you like it?"

The brunette cleared his throat. "Probably."

"Only one way to find out." The blonde took a step forward, right in front of the other boy, who took an instinctive step back. Malfoy's smirk increased playfully. "Scared, Potter?"

Potter had as much of it as he could handle. He chewed his lip for a second before grabbing Malfoy by the waist. He looked deep into those gray eyes and saw how vulnerable the teen was behind the shell of cockiness that he presented. Albus felt a short rush of courage, feeling the thinner boy's waist in his hands. He trembled a little bit as the courage dissipated, forcing him to admit, "Yeah, I'm scared. I mean… a little bit."

He pressed his lips into the other boy, who immediately relaxed into Albus's arms. Albus felt an incredible rush of magic and adrenaline as he licked his lips and deepened the kiss, feeling the blonde boy weaken even further and meld against his body. The kisses were nothing like the wet and dreadful kisses he had shared with his girlfriends in the past. Even as Malfoy was melding against him, Albus could feel the strength in the boy's muscles and the masculine scent that intoxicated the brunette.

After a time, Albus gave a light kiss and tilted his head back, still holding the boy in his arms. But he looked at the pure openness in Malfoy's eyes and grinned. "Why hadn't we done this sooner?"

"No idea. Just shut up." Malfoy took the lead, his own strength coming out as he pushed Albus against the nearest wall, kissing every inch of the boy's neck and lips, devouring every inch of Albus that he could see. Albus tried to keep from laughing at the other boy's kisses, feeling a huge weight off of his shoulders. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was gay and didn't care. So long as he got to kiss the boy in his arms right then, life would be okay.

Malfoy smiled weakly and looked up at the other boy, "I can't believe—"

A green flash boomed through the little room as the wall behind them scratched away at itself. The boys instantly separated and stared at the wall as it changed and shifted. Albus watched with incomprehensible horror as Teddy Lupin's name faded and a date appeared right below his name.

Malfoy approached it, his body shaking. "October 31? But that's… today…"

They shared a glance as all the blood rushed out of Albus's head. They instantly darted to the doorway. Looking up and down the stairs, Albus immediately went upstairs, to an open bedroom door…

The body of Teddy Lupin was lying in the doorway, with a face permanently contorted with horror.

* * *

Author's Note. Sorry about the cliffhanger but that's all I could get finished by today. I promise another chapter tomorrow. Thank you musical sphinx for the review! Even a short note makes me want to put up more chapters quicker. Yuyi! We will get the spelling right sooner or later. This probably wasn't the date you thought they'd have but the boys will have good times later I promise! Let me know what you think.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

* * *

Albus tripped backwards and fell to the ground, scooting backwards as he muttered, "No, it can't…"

Malfoy approached the body slower, with his wand out. After a long moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, he finally whispered disbelievingly, "He's dead."

"What have you done, you little monster?" One of the guests screamed at the blonde, disarming Malfoy with a quick curse.

Another woman screamed as more witches and wizards came up the stairs. Albus suddenly felt overcrowded and confused, trying to speak up as several wizards confined his friend, "Wait! Wait! He didn't do anything!"

The one who had disarmed Malfoy snarled at the brunette. "What did you say?"

"He didn't do it!"

"To hell he didn't." The man scrunched up his face, "This is Draco Malfoy's son! We all know what the Malfoys are capable of."

Whispers throughout the guests turned angry and vengeful as a whistle rang out. "Auror business, people. Let us through! Let us…" The auror glanced down at Teddy's body and whispered to his compatriot. "Get Auror Potter. Now." The other auror ran down the stairs, just as the first glared at the party goers. "I want everyone to move downstairs. We will need statements from all of you. No one leaves without Auror Potter's say. Is that clear?"

They began to comply, whispering conspiratorially to each other. Albus started to move towards the auror, trying to plead, "Sir, please listen to me! Malfoy didn't do anything! He's innocent?"

The auror narrowed his eyes. "Listen, Mr. Potter. I don't know who did or didn't do what. But you will hold your tongue until your father gets here."

Albus stole a glance to see his blonde friend on his knees, magically bound, with desperate pleas in his eyes, the same grey eyes he had just been staring into a few minutes before.

The fifth year tried not to break into tears as he walked past Teddy's body before his head snapped. "Victoire!"

"What?"

"Victoire Weasley! She was here with Teddy! Where is she? She must be missing!"

The auror in charge glanced at another auror. "Search the house for Ms. Weasley." He turned his glance back to the teenager, "Now go downstairs. Your father should be here any moment."

Albus stuffed his head into his pockets and trembled, feeling like he should be throwing up. The night had gone from the best in his life to the worst, all in an instant. He put his head in his hands until the front door opened.

His father came in with a grim and set face, flanked on either side by his aurors. He barked out orders and pointed to the crowd, not even noticing his son. Albus couldn't help but shiver at how hardened his father looked. It scared Albus. He had never seen his father raise his voice or show his auror side. For a moment, Albus could see the man who killed the Dark Lord and he didn't like it.

The elder Potter went up the stairs deftly, and Albus scrambled up the stairs after him. Harry Potter stopped by Lupin's body and gritted his teeth in silence. Albus stood back, not wanting to see Teddy's body again.

The Head Auror transfigured a cloth to cover the body and then nodded to an aide, who levitated the body out. Then, the elder Potter turned to the young Malfoy, who cowered in fear but kept silent.

He lowered himself to the teenager's bound form and stated very plainly. "Did you do it?"

"No!" Malfoy began to flow tears down his cheeks as the elder Potter observed every single movement in the other boy.

After a minute, he stood up, accepting Malfoy's proffered wand from the arresting auror.

"Priori Incantatem." Auror Potter cast the spell on the wand and saw the harmless school spells come out of it in reverse. He darted his eyes to the Malfoy and motioned for his guard to release the blonde.

Malfoy scrambled to his feet, still shaking. The elder Potter handed the boy his wand back, eyeing him carefully as if to gage his reaction.

The blonde muttered an infinitesimal thanks and cast his eyes downward.

The auror motioned from his subordinates to the blonde again. "Take Mr. Malfoy back to Hogwarts."

Albus almost protested when Malfoy shook his head with pleading eyes, as he was almost dragged away by the other aurors who were clearly not interested in letting the blonde go.

Albus's father turned to him and pulled him forcefully into the nearest room. He closed the door and got to eye level with his son. His father's voice settled in gravity as he focused back on his son. "Now I want you to be completely honest with me. This is extremely important. Has Scorpius Malfoy told you why he left Durmstrang?"

That question threw Albus for a loop. "W-what?"

The Head Auror didn't blink as he stated flatly, "Please, Albus. This is important."

Albus panicked and had to think of how to answer the question without answering it. In the end, he told his father the most truth he could. "N-n-no. He just said he did something his father… didn't like? Something… something about how Durmstrang was supposed to be a good influence on him but it wasn't."

The elder Potter stared out the window, asking tonelessly, "Did Scorpius kill Teddy?"

"NO!"

He snapped back to his son. "How do you know? Did he slip away from the party at all?"

Albus kept his hands as still as possible, realizing how serious it was. "No. I was with him the whole time."

"Where? What were you doing?"

The boy tried to be as evasive but honest as possible. "We… we were just drinking Butterbeers in the room with the family tree."

His father gripped his arm, his eyes piercing into him. "You are being evasive. I can tell that you aren't telling me everything."

Albus shrugged, trying to evade the auror's eyes.

"This is important, Albus. You have to tell me the whole truth. You may have to testify against or for Malfoy. What were you doing in that room?"

"We were kissing, dad." Albus felt his blush return in full force.

The auror immediately let his son go. "Oh."

Albus squirmed away, feeling a shock flow through his father's body.

Harry blinked as his son's words sunk in deeper. "Oh," he repeated, before shaking himself slowly. "Son… I'm so sorry…"

The teenager shrugged away from his father, feeling guilty and ashamed of himself.

When the elder Potter spoke, the Auror side of him had fully retreated. "Albus… how long have you known?"

"About a week? Maybe a little more."

"Oh Al. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you…"

Tears began falling copiously down Albus's face as he thought about Teddy lying on the ground, Draco just a few feet behind.

Albus shot his head up, stuttering to his dad, "Dad! Victoire is missing. She's not here."

The Head Auror blinked. "Victoire? Why would she be here? I thought she was in France?"

"Um… Teddy and Victoire were… kinda dating?"

"Damn. I've got to give Skeeter more credit, I suppose." Harry Potter gave a sad, mournful look at the closed door. "Oh Teddy, what have I done?"

"W-w-what?"

The auror sighed and turned to his youngest son. "It's nothing you have to worry about, Al. You're safe and that's what matters."

"Okay."

"I think it'd be best if you went back to Hogwarts. I'll come by this weekend to talk to you about… all of this, okay?"

Albus tried to clear his face of tears and nodded. He let himself be let out and side-along Apparated to Hogsmeade. Then it was a slow walk through the cold wind back to the castle in silence.

* * *

When he finally got to Gryffindor Tower, he saw a shaking Malfoy sitting on his bed. The rest of the boys in the dorm were blissfully asleep. Albus got into his sleepwear and went over to Malfoy wordlessly. He pulled him quickly in and gripped the blonde into the tightest hug he had ever given.

Malfoy relaxed into him, crying slightly and shaking. Potter felt the silence break him down until he was shaking too, the fear and uncertainty rushing through him. He pulled the blonde by the wrist into Albus's bed and got under the covers. Malfoy hesitated but then joined the brunette under the sheets as they held each other, spelling the curtains shut and lying silently.

It was a long night and Albus somehow knew that the nights were only going to get longer from here on out. But it helped to have the blonde to hold in his arms.

* * *

Author's Note:musical sphinx: I only left you hanging for a few hours! Hopefully the ending makes up for it, a little bit. secretlysmitten: I'm glad that you enjoyed the date part! But we gotta get going on the actual plot of the story. But never fear! There'll be more cuteness to come. Codee21: Yes they finally kissed! I've been wanting to write that forever, but we had to build up to it. There'll be more kisses. Yuyi: As promised, here's the update. I'm a slow writer too sometimes but this story has got me running. Pardon the grammatical errors, I just wanted to get this out there soon. yop: Thank you for the review! I hope you get an account and grow your language skills. I know a few languages myself, I know it's not easy.

Let me know if you think it's going to suddenly in the plot of if I need to expand on the characters more. I'll probably go back and expand this chapter and a few others so that our boys can get more alone time. Anyways, thank you all for your feedback.


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